Customer Reviews

PHP3: Programming Browser-Based Applications with PHP

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I use PHP3 and mySQL extensively on my vtfood.com/trains web site, but up until now, it has been hard to find a well rounded PHP3 book.

This book covers everything from installing PHP, understanding all aspects of PHP, connecting to databases (such as mySQL), pattern matching, working with CGI, XML, and many other goodies.

I am a fairly experienced PHP programmer, but this book has shown me several advanced tricks that I didn't know about, mostly due to lack of time to research these types of things on my own.

If you are a beginner, this book is perfect for you because the technical topics are covered in a straightforward, non-technical manner with lots of sample code to learn from.

Unfortunately, I expected the accompanying CD containing mysql, apache, php, etc., to be useful. Instead, the .tar files wouldn't compile without errors (I tried them on 2 different machines), and the my_ODBC tarball is actually for Windows. I ended up downloading the .tar's which then compiled flawlessly.

Now that I've gotten past the installation (no thanks to the book), I'm finding typos in the sample code. Grrrrrr.

If you're like me, you like to dive right in and start coding immediately to see what can be done. To do that, one needs a good reference on the available functions, syntax, etc. That's not what you'll get with Medinets' book.

While it does have a lots of useful information for beginning programmers and developers using MySQL and XML, it lacks depth. The book tries to cover too much territory and as a result fails to deliver enough useful information to make PHP accessible to all programmers.

There are plenty of code examples but they often refer to code used in previous chapters. I like to use books such as this as a reference and having to constantly cross-reference to other snippets of code is time consuming. I guess if I sat and read the book cover to cover, this would be less of a problem. However, most of the book is so rudimentary for most experienced programmers you would probably skim through it to get to what you need to know.

The most frustrating part of trying to really 'use' this book is that there is no function reference. Just a list of the functions without any parameter references or anything. I end up going to the PHP web site and getting more useful information online than in the book.

If not for some of the information on pattern matching, SQL and PHP installation, this book would have little value for me.

I better understood how to use mySQL after reading this book since it focused on mySQL and XML (which I haven't bothered to read yet) separately from using PHP3 to program database applications. Good section on an existing application "phpMyAdmin". Found a good discussion on php datatypes, which as a programmer I seldom read. There's a chapter on regular expressions which is useful. But MOST of PHP3 isn't discussed at all. I was disappointed. Even the reference at the back gives only function names, not even the parameters.

Buy this book only if you must have a php3 book and also want to learn about mySQL.

I feel this book is well written, however lacking some content. For those needing database connectivity, the examples in this book are beautiful, well defined, and easy to understand. I have personally used the content of the book to help me build 3 live production databases. I have needs for other areas of PHP now, and what I need is not covered in this book. I'll need to get another book for other areas of PHP, but I won't complain. This book has helped me tremendously on the job.

Concise, well-written text. Seems as though it would be best for those who already have some experience with web scripting languages and SQL. Not a very general book, but quite useful for the specific task of harnessing the power of PHP for database integration.

It's AMAZING! I'm *finally* understanding how this all goes together.

Every other PHP manual or tutorial I've seen just gave lists of commands and how to use them, but didn't really explain the thought-process behind making real working functions.

This one actually walks you through the creation-from-scratch showing first "goals" even for little tiny one-page projects, then follows through on making it happen. Very cool. This book even gives his 20-year-programmer's advice such as, "You could do it this way, but I recommend doing it this way instead."

It's nice to have more than "just the facts" - and that's why I've learned more from this book in the last 2 days than any other PHP tutorial I've done in the last 5 months.

I was developing two websites using PHP3 and MySQL so I bought this book to help: wrong. It's a disaster. It's been three months since I bought the book and I've gotten zero information from it. Today I tried to find out how to get the date, the index doesn't have date or time listed. It doesn't help with putting data in, or getting data out of forms or databases. Save your money.

This was the first book I bought on php. Medinets explains things very well, and it's clear he knows a lot of tricks for installing and making things work. The advantage of this book is its simplicity and attention to detail. Most of the steps worked in the installation, and he explains why he does things the way he does. The stuff on XML and SQL is pretty cursory, but it's enough to make you aware of how it works and how php could help with that kind of data.

He is clearly geared toward writing a tutorial and not a reference book. At one point, we're supposed to be establishing a mysql connection and after going through the steps, he says, "well, this doesn't work because..." (and then he explains what was missing). I appreciate this sort of method, but it might be confusing for some readers.

This book is to be a quick breezy read and intended for people who want to get their feet wet before getting seriously into the subject. I would mention that Professional PhP is an excellent book, much more comprehensive than this one and just as readable. Readers might seriously consider bypassing this book and reading the Wrox Professional PHp book. The Wrox book has excellent examples and gives switches and api's when trying to connect to other databases beside mysql.

In summary: an excellent straightforward introduction, but many readers might prefer to read a more comprehensive book like Professional PHP (by Wrox)

While this book is great for beginners to make a kick-start, almost everything covered in this book is available on the Internet, either on newsgroups/mailing lists, or php-related websites.

Nothing original, no tips & tricks, just plain reference/tutorial.

If you are just starting writing in PHP, this book is a very good reference.

If you are programming on PHP more than a year, you don't need this book anymore, as you know Altavista and php mailing list.